Head to Head Comparison: Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) versus Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT)

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) and Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Equinix and Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equinix	11.32%	7.73%	2.95%
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	53.82%	14.32%	3.20%

Dividends

Equinix pays an annual dividend of $17.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.2%. Equinix pays out 170.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Franklin BSP Realty Trust pays out 107.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Franklin BSP Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.9% of Equinix shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.9% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Equinix shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Equinix has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a beta of 1.44, suggesting that its share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Equinix and Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equinix	$8.19 billion	8.88	$969.18 million	$9.97	76.86
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	$263.95 million	3.94	$145.21 million	$1.32	9.62

Equinix has higher revenue and earnings than Franklin BSP Realty Trust. Franklin BSP Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equinix, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Equinix and Franklin BSP Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equinix	0	6	8	1	2.67
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	0	0	3	1	3.25

Equinix currently has a consensus target price of $872.81, suggesting a potential upside of 13.91%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $14.75, suggesting a potential upside of 16.14%. Given Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Franklin BSP Realty Trust is more favorable than Equinix.

Summary

Franklin BSP Realty Trust beats Equinix on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equinix

Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure company . Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.

About Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Benefit Street Partners operates as a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). BSP earns income from investing in a leveraged portfolio of residential mortgage pass-through securities consisting almost exclusively of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) securities issued and guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises, either Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (together, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)), or by an agency of the federal government, Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). BSP’s investment strategy focuses on managing a portfolio of residential mortgage investments consisting almost exclusively of ARM Agency Securities. As of December 31, 2012, the Company’s securities consisted of Agency Securities classified as available-for-sale and Residential mortgage securities classified as held-to-maturity.